Rachel Dacus, Poet & Writer. My novel THE RENAISSANCE CLUB is forthcoming from Fiery Seas Publishing in January 2018.

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Thursday, February 03, 2005

No! To The New Yorker and Other Hoity-Toity Magazines

Just read a hilarious account by Jennifer Weiner, an author who all but turned backflips to get published in The New Yorker, only to be told after moving heaven and earth to get a contact, that she is geographically incorrect in her choice of residence. (Authors, take note: "Talk of the Town" appears to refer only to NYC. If you don't live there, forget breaking in that way. )

I'm at that stage of submitting prose and poetry where I've deemed readable, but not connected enough to be publishable. I regularly get personal notes with lavish editorial suggestions. This level of attention would seem to suggest that I will be imminently accepted at, say, The Atlantic. But the imminence is always receding. I finally figured out that I'm sort of being toyed with, while they wait for Joyce Carol Oates' story or Billy Collins' poem to come in.

That said, I can't really whine this morning. Not when I have an essay forthcoming in a wonderful book: Italy, A Love Story. Editor Camille Cusumano, who did a similar anthology for Seal Press (France, A Love Story), has created a new collection of essays about Italy, my favorite place in the whole world (except Hawaii, which isn't really in this world).

I'm very excited, as I poured myself into this piece, writing from the heart and without that little voice that says at every word, "But is it publishable?" Of course I prize craft, but I needed to cut loose. Happily, cutting loose on this piece worked for everyone. It feels wonderful to have put so much into a piece of writing and have it well received. Better than getting into The New Yorker.

All writers know that glow, when you've done a really honest piece of work, and it gets an enthusiastic reception wherever it has landed. I think such an experience is deeply instructive of how to write better, unless your writing goal is to surpass Stephen King in sales. For me, better is the goal, not just well-published. My father, the mad rocket scientist, has a saying: "Better is the enemy of good." That works for engineering a rocket, maybe. It doesn't work for creative writing. My creative writer's paraphrase of Dad's Law of Better: "Better is your friend; publishable is your enemy."

About Me

Rachel Dacus's novel The Renaissance Club, is forthcoming from Fiery Seas Publishing in January 2018. Her poetry collections are Gods of Water and Air, Earth Lessons, Femme au Chapeau, and the spoken word CD
A God You Can Dance. Read more at: http://racheldacus.net.